Jan. 12, 2008

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DAYTON, Ohio - A Saturday showdown proved be a day of bests for Flyer Women's Basketball. A crowd of 2,288 of the Flyer faithful piled into UD Arena to see Dayton defeat the Temple Owls 62-49 in the Atlantic 10 Conference opener for both schools.

The win extended the nation's longest winning streak to 15 consecutive games for UD (15-2) and snapped a six-game losing skid in the Flyers' series against the Owls.

Behind the support of the largest single-game attendance of the season, Dayton shot 43.9 percent from the field including 5-for-10 from three-point range against the Atlantic 10's best defense. Temple entered the game allowing just 56.2 points per game and was holding the opposition to 26.8 percent shooting from long range.

Freshman Kristin Daugherty continued her outstanding rookie campaign, netting 14 of Dayton's points. The real story was her tremendous play on the boards, pulling down seven offensive rebounds and five defensive rebounds for a game total of 12, the best of her career.

Karah Cloxton also shattered a career-best on Saturday. Cloxton went 4-for-4 from downtown en route to a 16-point game against the Owls. Her previous best mark was set in January 2007 against Fordham. Cloxton also snapped a personal-best for three-point field goals in a game.

Playing in her 100th collegiate game, Nikki Oakland added 12 points and five rebounds to the Flyer offense. This is the sixth straight game that Oakland has scored in double-figures and the 13th time this season.

UD force TU into 16 turnovers and took advantage with a 21-13 edge in points off turnovers. The Flyers also pulled down 15 offensive rebounds that resulted in a 12-8 lead in second chance points.

The Owls took an early lead over the Flyers, controlling the tip and knocking down the first four points of the half.

Kristin Daugherty hit the first bucket for UD, grabbing an offensive board off of an errant three-point attempt and draining it for two. Temple struck back with a shot from LaKeisha Eaddy keeping Temple in control 6-2 at the 17:55 mark.

Karah Cloxton tried to ignite the Flyers with a three-pointer that pulled UD within one point of the lead. However, the Owls fired back with five straight points from Shanea Cotton and Lindsay Kimmel, and Temple leading 11-5 with 16:27 left.

Dayton kept within striking distance in the first five minutes despite the Owls shooting nearly 67-percent from the field to open the game. The Flyers finally snapped a three minute scoring lull with a second-chance jumper from Kristin Daugherty pulling the Flyers within six, 15-9.

Moments later the surging Flyers offense pulled within one point after a fast-break trey from Kiki Lund, 17-16. The crowd was soon silenced when the Owls would answer Lund's three with one of their own to make it a 20-16 Dayton deficit with 8:24 left in the first half.

After nearly three minutes without a field goal from either team, Karah Cloxton landed another bucket from downtown to pull the Flyers within one point of the lead, 20-19. Temple's Ashley Morris put the Owls ahead by three once more, but Lund hit another jumper to close the deficit to one for the fourth time of the day.

Finally, after scratching and clawing their way back into the game, Brittany Holterman dropped the go-ahead bucket for Dayton's first lead of the night 23-22 with 4:06 left in the first half. Moments later Karah Cloxton hit her third straight from downtown, propelling the Flyer offense late in the half.

Temple tried to pull into control with two free-throws by Ashley Morris, but Kelly Keil would send the Flyers into the half with five point lead and the momentum on their side. The sophomore center hit a fade away jumper from the baseline as time expired to send UD into the locker room with a 32-27 lead.

Brittany Holterman got the party started in the second half, laying it up for the two points. Her bucket was answered moments later by a layup of her own by Temple's Lady Comfort.

With 16:34 left in the game, Cloxton hit her fourth straight three-pointer, shattering a career-best for three-pointers in a game, and giving the Flyers a 37-30 lead.

In the second half it would be Temple that found their way into a scoring drought. The Flyer defense held the Owls without a score for 4:44 seconds, spanning from the 17-minute mark to 13:10, when LaKeisha Eaddy finally dropped a Temple bucket.

Dayton took a 14-point lead with a bucket from Brittany Holterman, giving the Flyers their largest lead of the day, and putting UD in control of their first win over Temple in the last seven meetings.

The Flyers will travel to Philadelphia, PA to battle the La Salle Explorers on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Follow the Flyers live on GameTracker available at www.DaytonFlyers.com.